Lada-Izhevsk workers sent an open letter to Putin, 29 July 2022

Workers of the Izhevsk Automobile Plant addressed an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin. They claim that the plant has been idle for five months already due to the lack of imported parts for assembling Lada Vesta cars, their main product. In addition, they report that even if the production of Lada Vesta resumes, the Avtovaz management intends to move it to a plant in Tolyatti and produce electric cars in Izhevsk – but since there is no infrastructure for electric cars in Russia, this will completely bury the Izhevsk plant, workers count.

In an open letter, which was published on Vkontakte by the IzhAvto trade union organization, it is stated that the assembly production of Lada Vesta at the plant has actually been stopped. For the survival of the team, a federal support program is used – temporary work. Highly trained professionals paint the walls, mow the grass and collect the rubbish...

The workers are asking President Putin to intervene and prevent “the destruction of Russia’s best automobile plant"...